How Aryna Sabalenka emulated impressive Serena Williams feat with battling Wimbledon win

Oli Dickson Jefford 05 Jul 2025 12:19 PM

Pictured: Aryna Sabalenka celebrates during a match.

It was not easy, but Aryna Sabalenka got the job done against Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon on Friday night.

The world No 1 faced a tougher test than many expected on Centre Court, with world No 40 Raducanu entertaining her home crowd by producing some of her best tennis since her US Open win.

However, Sabalenka is a different beast when it comes to Grand Slam tournaments, and the three-time major champion ultimately won the biggest points on her way to a 7-6(6), 6-4 triumph.

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“I’m happy with the win. It was a battle. She really pushed me to the limit today. I’m super happy with the win,” she said after the match.

“She [Raducanu] played incredible level. Secondly, the crowd — I mean, I played enough in the States against American, and there it’s, like, super crazy.

“Honestly, I’m super grateful that people were respectful and really polite during the points. Even though they were cheering for her between the points, during the point I was able to focus, and they were really polite once again.

“So I think that’s really helped me to stay in the game and to be there to fight for every point. I’m super happy that I was able to be that focused.”

Sabalenka’s victory over Raducanu followed on from opening wins over Carson Branstine and Marie Bouzkova, and the world No 1, despite being tested, is yet to drop a set.

Her fortunes contrast with many of her contemporaries, with the second to sixth seeds all out of the event before the second week.

The Belarusian has become adept at navigating the early stages of majors, and she has now followed in the footsteps of Serena Williams with an impressive Grand Slam run.

Second week specialist

Impressively, Sabalenka has now reached at least the fourth round of her last 11 Grand Slam main draw appearances.

The world No 1 was banned from Wimbledon in 2022, due to the tournament’s suspension of Russian and Belarusian players, and also missed the tournament in 2024 due to injury.

However, the last time she played a Grand Slam tournament and did not reach round four was the 2022 French Open, where she was beaten in three sets by Camila Giorgi in the third round.

Since then, Sabalenka has reached at least the quarter-final of every Grand Slam event she has played, with nine semi-finals, six finals, and three titles across her 10 completed major events in this run.

The last player to achieve this many consecutive fourth round showings at Grand Slam level was Williams, who reached at least the second week for 14 straight appearances from 2014 to 2019.

After losing in round three of Wimbledon in 2014, Williams reached the second week of the US Open later that summer, ultimately winning the title.

She would reach at least the semi-final of her next nine Grand Slam events after that, winning five titles, and her run continued when she returned from maternity leave in 2018.

Returning to Grand Slam action at the 2018 French Open, Williams reached at least the fourth round at every Slam until the 2019 French Open, where she fell to Sofia Kenin in round three.

However, that was not even the American’s best run, reaching the round four of 16 consecutive Grand Slam appearances from the 2000 US Open to 2005 Australian Open, also barring withdrawals.

Sabalenka will have her eyes on extending her streak in the future, but still has the not-insignificant matter of her Wimbledon campaign to deal with first.

Key upsets across the draw have only increased her status as the favourite for the title, with the Belarusian’s campaign continuing against 24th seed Elise Mertens on Sunday.

Sabalenka and Mertens are former doubles partners, winning two majors together, though the world No 1 has an emphatic 10-2 lead in their head-to-head – including nine straight triumphs over the 24th seed.

If Sabalenka were to beat the Belgian, she would also be a heavy favourite in the quarter-final versus the unseeded Laura Siegemund or lucky loser Solana Sierra.